You don't typically think of 1970s era luxury cars like the 1971 Chrysler New Yorker as performance cars. According to Bud Lindemann, host of Car and Track, "along with all the ‘poshiness'" the 1971 New Yorker had some muscle too.

Since reviving Murilee's weekend road test series we've seen a rare Shelby Mustang and an even more rare Hemi Charger which makes it interesting to hear how excited Bud Lindemann and the Car and Track crew get about the fuselage styled 1971 Chrysler New Yorker. You might think after test driving rare muscle cars, the big luxury car might be a bore. Lindemann even names the New Yorker Car and Track's favorite offering from the "Chrysler Stable"

During the road test it is pointed out that the 1971 Chrysler New Yorker was going to receive a bigger facelift but "economy dictated changes for only the grille and the rear end". This is just a nice way of saying that it was actually the New Yorkers poor sales performance that made Chrysler wait until the 1974 for a full New Yorker redesign. The "fuselage" body styled New Yorker might not have been new, but it still offered the luxury buyers had come to expect from the model. Drawing comparisons to a living room, Lindemann describes the seats as being "Big, pretty and maybe a little too soft".

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The muscle aspect of this car came from the "440 incher" under the hood. The big block V8 still produced 335 horsepower after the engine was detuned for low lead gasoline. Although the big car had power, it still wasn't a stellar straight line performer. The car took 8.7 seconds to see 60 miles an hour. Lindemann points out during that 8.7 seconds "at no point in time was our driver uncomfortable" due to the New Yorker's interior and A/C. Even if the New Yorker isn't quite as fast as the last pair of vehicles we've looked at, it's still pretty cool to see a big old Chrysler hold its own around the Car and Track test track.